Related fields include electromagnetic induction coils in general, and more particularly windings in transformers, including high-current transformers.
High-power transformers are used in power converters for aircraft, spacecraft, vessels, offshore platforms, vehicles, and similar isolated environments. High-power transformers may achieve high power density by operating at high voltage, high current, high frequency, or any combination. Under conditions where the electromagnetic coils must hold off high voltage without breakdown, conventional approaches used for low-power transformers become unwieldy. For example, traditional wire-wound secondary coils require longer and longer windings as the required voltage hold-off increases. Excessively long windings may become difficult to manufacture and require inconveniently large packages.
One approach to reducing the physical axial length of high-power secondary coils has been to overlap the windings. However, overlapping introduces its own performance challenges, such as the formation of inter-winding capacitances and a heightened risk of breakdown between the secondary and its inner core or, where applicable, primary windings around the core. Long, overlapped windings may also require complex and painstaking processes for fabrication and assembly.